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'I think he's insane,' mayoral hopeful on ricin suspect

JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi man arrested in connection with letters covered in ricin sent to Sen. Roger Wicker and President Barack Obama used the same language to end a Facebook post as was used in the two letters.

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'I think he's insane,' mayoral hopeful on ricin suspect

A Miss. sheriff says a suspicious letter that was recently sent to a local judge is similar to the letters that were sent to Sen. Roger Wicker and President Obama in Washington. 45-year-old Paul Kevin Curtis has been arrested in the case. (April
AP

That's according to an FBI affidavit filed Wednesday in support of Paul Kevin Curtis' arrest. The affidavit said Curtis also sent a letter containing the same language as the Obama and Wicker letters to Justice Court Judge Sadie Holland, 80, in Lee County, Miss.

Holland's son, Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville, said Thursday that his mother received a threatening letter last week that contained ricin. He said the substance had been sent to a lab for testing.

"She's under the FBI's jurisdiction," he said. "The FBI has her now." He said his mother, who's been in public service for more than 36 years, got the letter on April 11 and opened it herself.

"She's fine," he said. "We own three funeral homes. We've had 10 or 11 funerals since Thursday, and she hasn't missed a one. Over the weekend, she worked 60 hours."

Curtis apparently used the same language to end a Facebook post as was used in the two letters

"This is KC and I approve this message," he wrote April 11. The post was a link to a YouTube video by Jason Shelton, a Democratic candidate for mayor of Tupelo, Miss.

Shelton said Wednesday night that he knew who Curtis, 45, was but did not know him personally.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;!--iframe--&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; "The guy is definitely not a friend of mine," Shelton said. "He's never been a friend of mine."

Shelton said that he had blocked Curtis on Facebook several days ago because Curtis would not leave him alone.

"I think he's insane and out to harm people," Shelton said.

Wicker said he met Curtis several years ago when he performed at a party that he and his wife gave for a young couple about to get married.

"I have indeed met the gentleman, yes. At a social event," he told reporters outside the Senate chamber after voting on amendments to the gun bill. "He's an entertainer. He's an Elvis impersonator."

The party was about a decade ago, Wicker said. "It's my understanding that since that time he's had mental issues and may note be as stable as he had been," he said.

The FBI late Thursday confirmed the presence of ricin in the letters sent to Obama, a Democrat, and Wicker, a Republican. Ricin is derived from the castor plant, more commonly made into castor oil. Ricin has no antidote, and it is most deadly when inhaled.

Curtis was arrested Wednesday at his home in Corinth, Miss., about 50 miles north of Tupelo, the FBI said. The letters sent bore a postmark from Memphis, about 90 miles west of Corinth.

Corinth police Capt. Ralph Dance said Curtis had been living in the city of 14,000 since December.

"We've never had him in our custody," he said. "Since he's been in our town, we didn't even know he was here."

Dance said Curtis lives in a small, red brick, white-trimmed house in subsidized housing owned by the Tennessee Valley Housing Authority.

“I think he has some very serious psychological issues from my dealings with him.”

Sheriff Randy Tolar, Prentiss County, Miss.

"Apparently, the guy is disabled of some sort," he said.

Corinth police were merely assisting the FBI with road blocks, crowd control and securing Curtis' home.

Curtis was being held in the Lafayette County jail in Oxford, Miss., a booking officer, who declined to give his name, said Thursday. He is charged with threatening the president and others, is scheduled to appear in federal court, and if convicted could face up to 15 years in prison.

The letters the Curtis is accused of sending read:

"No one wanted to listen to me before. There are still 'Missing Pieces.' Maybe I have your attention now even if that means someone must die. This must stop. To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance. I am KC and I approve this message."

On April 12, Curtis posted a photo of the registered trademark symbol — an R inside a circle — that read, in part, "To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance."

"My mother wants me to SHUT UP. My brothers fear me. My sister hates me. My cousins have hostility towards me (they work in healthcare) I have lost most of my friends," Curtis wrote early Wednesday morning.Facebook posts made by Curtis on his fan site — Kevin Curtis Live (KC) — paint a picture of a man obsessed with conspiracies, an obsession that apparently alienated him from his family.

Paul Kevin Curtis(Photo: Facebook via AP)

"I have spent more than $130,000.00 on legal fee's in 13.5 yrs. They burned down my home, killed my dogs, my cat, my rabbit, blew up my 1966 Plymouth Valent. They destroyed my marriage, they distracted my career, they stalked, they trolled, they came in to my home, took my computers, had me arrested 22 times and guess what? I am still a thorn in their corrupt anals! I will remain here until Jesus Christ decides its time for me to go."

The Facebook rant continues with Curtis, who has done janitorial work in the past, claiming he is on the front lines of a hidden war against the mafia and a black market organs harvesting scheme.

Curtis wrote that people's loved ones' body parts are not safe and are all up for the highest bidder.

Prentiss County Sheriff Randy Tolar in Booneville, Miss., said Curtis has been in jail several times.

"If it's Kevin Curtis, we've had him in our jail about four times, mostly misdemeanors like simple assault. But in 2008 for telephone harassment and stalking," Tolar said. "I think he has some very serious psychological issues from my dealings with him. In the past I had read some of his Facebook postings, and it was very far out there. He'll get down on you and bash you with everything he's got, even making up stuff, and I've seen that side of him."

Nevertheless, Tolar said that he was surprised to hear Curtis could be the one behind the letters.

A man who identified himself as "Kevin Curtis of Booneville," claimed online that he had a cleaning contract with Northeast Mississippi Medical Center before being fired. He claimed his firing took place because he found body parts in a morgue refrigerator.

He wrote on on ripoffreport.com: "3 Years of research lead to countless court battles, cops harassing me weekly, death threats, personal & financial losses, several thefts, my home burned down, car exploded, marriage dissolved & bankruptcy. You can imagine how helpless I felt the day I found out my attorney dropped my case & represented the very hospital I filed suit against?"

He posted criticisms of Wicker, claimed that he ran into Wicker several times and that "he seemed very nervous speaking to me and would make a fast exit to the door" after talking about his case against the hospital. He said he had personally sent out more than a million emails in one year, detailing what happened to him.

Ricky Curtis, who said he was Kevin Curtis' cousin, said the family was shocked by the news of the arrest. He described his cousin as a "super entertainer" who impersonated Elvis and numerous other singers.

"We're all in shock. I don't think anybody had a clue that this kind of stuff was weighing on his mind," Ricky Curtis said in a telephone interview.

Ricky Curtis said his cousin had written about problems he had with a cleaning business and that he felt the government had not treated him well, but he said nobody in the family would have expected this. He said the writings were titled Missing Pieces.

Kevin Curtis had filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the Tupelo hospital in 2000. It was dismissed a year later.

Authorities are investigating letters that were addressed to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. The letters appear to contain the poison ricin.

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Where does it come from?

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The Survival Guide: What to Do in a Biological, Chemical, or Nuclear Emergency, Angelo Acquista, M.D.; interview with Victor Cohen, director of pharmacology, Department of Emergency Medicine at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn; the CDC; and Cornell University; USA TODAY research